Critical thinking and speaking proficiency: A mixed-method study

Abstract

The present study was intended to investigate the impact of teaching critical thinking skills on the speaking proficiency of Iranian EFL learners in Tehran, how this impact is explained and the participants' attitudes towards explicit critical-thinking content. To achieve this goal, two groups of female Iranian intermediate EFL learners were compared on their speaking performance, with one group having been trained in critical thinking explicitly and the other as the control group. Both groups were tested prior to and after the training of the experimental group was performed. A mixed-method approach was employed in the analysis of the data. In the quantitative analysis, a quasi-experimental method was adopted to investigate the impact of teaching critical thinking skills on the speaking proficiency of the experimental group in comparison with the control group. The results indicated that teaching critical thinking explicitly has a significantly positive impact on the speaking proficiency of female Iranian adult intermediate EFL learners. Through the qualitative approach, the participants' attitudes towards their training in critical thinking were studied during in-depth interviews. The results are described in detail. Accordingly, explicit instruction of critical thinking in the English class can make a deeper impression of the language taught. © 2014 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland.